Me Against The World
by Daughter of Iris
Summary: Alice is always bullied at school and beaten at home by her brother-in-law, Emmett. She finds sanctuary in her cruel world in Jasper, her best friend. What happens when Jasper tells her... AH slightly OOC AxJ T for slight abuse and language.
1. PROLOGUE

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Twilight. Only in my dreams... *sigh*

*PROLOGUE*

ThirdPersonPOV

"Emmett! Stop it!" Rosalie screamed as Emmett punched little eleven year old Alice to the ground. Her screams echoed through the house like a distress signal. Rosalie, help me, Rosalie, help me, it kept saying in her ear. Tears formed a thin film over Alice's eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. Don't cry, don't cry, she thought over and over to herself.

"Little brat deserved it," Emmett growled, holding back a fist in Rosalie's face as if he were about to punch her, too.

"Why me?" Alice whimpered to herself, terrified.

"Oh, I'll tell you why."

Yay! My first story! Reviews make me happy. ;D


	2. Chapter 1

*Chapter 1*

AlicePOV

I tried to dress the bruise on my forearm, but makeup just wouldn't work. Looks like I'll be explaining some gauze or a bandage, then.

I tried to hide the gauze wrap on my arm as I made my way to the front door. I was successful.

"Jazzy! Jasper!" I yelled as I ran towards my friend at the bus stop. He turned around and held his arms out. I jumped into his arms, happy to be away from home.

"Maybe we can skip sixth and seventh period today," he whispered to me as the bus pulled up. Jasper and I had pretty much the same schedule, except for our quarterly classes and first period. This quarter we had FACS together. FACS is short for Family And Consumer Science. Pretty much Home Economics.

"Yeah, that would be great!" I exclaimed, following him to his seat near the back of the bus. He noticed the gauze on my arm.

"Emmett again?" he asked quietly but cautiously, knowing my sensitivity to the subject.

"Yeah," I whispered. Jasper was the only one I ever told. He was my one and only friend I had ever made. And, how ever much I hate to admit it, he was pretty cute. Blond hair in his blue eyes all the time. In that "I want to brush the hair out of your face" kinda way.

"Alice, you're too pretty and kind for that kind of treatment," he said in a hushed tone of voice, pushing my bangs behind my ear. I smiled shyly.

"I know, but where else can I go besides Rose's house? Eddie moved off to Washington with Bella, and Momma and Daddy are...gone." I didn't want to say dead.

"It's okay, don't worry. You'll pull through. You can stay with me for a few days if you want," he offered politely.

"Thank you, Jazzy! Thank you, thank you!" I exclaimed quietly, holding him close as I could with the bruise on my arm. He stroked my hair comfortingly.

"You're welcome, baby girl."

"What did you call me?" I asked.

"Nothing, Alice."

Jasper quickly handed me a small box before we left to go to our lockers, which were on opposite sides of the school. He smiled at me and walked off.

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In my locker, I hid behind the door of it and opened the poorly wrapped package.

There was a small slip of paper. I opened it to find an arrow written on it that said, "Read with Jasper." Okay then.

Under the slip of paper, there was the most beautiful diamond ring I ever saw.

It was a line of small diamonds, and in the middle of the line was a brilliant aquamarine stone, slightly larger than the small diamonds around it. Jasper's family had a lot of money, so he must have decided to get me a nice gift. A tear of joy rolled down my cheek as the tardy bell rang.

I slipped the ring on my right index finger and ran to my first class.

Math. Where most of the bullying happened.

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"This is due at the end of class! You may get a partner!" Mrs. Daniels, my math teacher, announced to the class. I shrunk into my chair as my two bullies, Maxx and James, walked towards me. I tried not to show fear.

"That's a nice ring you got there. Thought your family couldn't afford it," Maxx taunted.

"It was a gift," I whimpered.

"From your boyfriend? That Jasper freak?" James added to my statement.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I said loudly, a blush pooling in my cheeks.

The door opened, and Jasper walked in. "Mrs Daniels, Mr. Remelius wants to talk to Alice," he said.

"Okay. Go ahead, Alice."

I walked out with Jasper.

"Why does the principal want to see me?"

"He doesn't," Jasper stated smugly. "So tell me what they said today."

"Maxx said my family couldn't afford the ring you gave me, which is true, and James said that- well...that you were my" I gulped "boyfriend."

He just laughed.

"I liked the poem, by the way."

"Did you look at the back of the paper?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"No, I will though."

"Good, I wanted you to read it with me."

We walked together to my locker. I opened it and grabbed the box with shaking hands. I took the slip of paper out and flipped it over. Jasper smiled as my eyes grew wide.

On the back of the paper were the words,

"I love you."


	3. Chapter 2

*Chapter 2*

JasperPOV

"Really?" she breathed, tears forming in her eyes.

"Really."

She jumped up, wanting me to hold her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and buried her head in my shoulder, crying tears of joy.

"I love you too, Jazzy," she confided in my ear.

I held her close as I sneaked out of the building with her.

"We're out, Alice."

She just smiled a sweet, angelic smile.

"Can we go to your house once school's out for the others?" she inquired tearfully.

"Mm-hmm."

I brought her to the park with me. We sat under the shade of two trees: an oak and a linden tree, their branches intertwined. I held her close to me as she went on and on about her problems, staining my shirt with her tears. I didn't care about the stain.

"...and one night he threw an empty beer bottle at me and I got a cut on my leg. Remember, I didn't go to school a few weeks ago? It's cause I couldn't walk. And then this one time, he hit Rosalie with a-"

"He hit Rose?" I asked worriedly "He never hits Rose."

"He was really mad that night. He didn't have a good day at work. He really scares me sometimes, Jazzy. Can we go to your house right now or no?"

"Whatever you want, baby girl."

"Hmm? Come again?"

"I said you're my baby girl." I said, my chest swelling with happiness.

She just smiled.

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"Mom! I'm home early! I brought Alice!" I called to my mom. She doesn't have to work because my dad had a good job. He never told me what it was, though.

"Okay, but don't be too loud! I'm gonna take a nap in a minute!" Mom called back as I took Alice up to my room.

"It's okay, baby girl, I'll keep Emmett away. I'll come home with you and keep him away from you and Rose," I reassured her.

"I got an idea!" Alice exclaimed after a few moments of silence. "I'll tell the cops, then I'll be up for adoption, and your family can adopt me! It's perfect! Besides, we are bestest buddies, right?"

I was speechless.

We looked at each other. The silence was broken by the front door closing. Dad was home.

With one glance at each other, we knew what to do.

We ran down the stairs to badger my dad about adopting Alice.


	4. Chapter 3

*Chapter 3*

AlicePOV

We got Jazzy's dad to agree. I was so happy! I would get to live with my Jazzy! Woohoo!

Just one step left.

Tell the cops.

I ran down to the police station. I was pretty good with certain vocabulary terms that I heard Rosie scream at Emmett. Like the term "domestic violence" and "child abuse." These would be perfect.

I finally got to the station and came up to the desk. I was just barely taller than it.

"Can I help you?" the officer behind the desk asked me.

"Yeah. This may seem out of the blue, but my brother-in-law beats me and Rosie every night."

"Honey, what's your name?"

"Alice," I replied.

"Where do you live and how did you get here?"

"I live on 9900 Vasel Drive, and I got here by running."

"Did you sneak out of the house?"

"I was at my friend Jazzy's house. Emmett scares me. I wanna move away. Jazzy's daddy was offering to adopt me," I explained quickly.

"We'll get a few officers to your house," he said. I just then realized that he was writing down everything I was saying.

"Where does Jazzy live?"

"Just across the street; 9853 Vasel Drive."

"I'll take you there, sweety. I'm Officer Brian, by the way."

"And I'm Alice Cullen," I stated proudly.

He said something into his walkie-talkie and led me to his car.

I sat in the back seat.

"Are you gonna arrest Emmy?" I asked as we parallel parked next to Jazzy's front yard.

"Maybe."

I ran out of the car to Jasper's front door.

"Jazzy!" I exclaimed as he opened the door. I jumped into his arms, laughing with relief.

"I got the cops on the job! We're gonna live together! We're gonna be okay!"

He held me close. "I knew you'd pull through, baby girl!"

He took me up to his room so we could watch safely from there. He set me down on the be next to the window and sat next to me.

Silence.

"Kissing's disgusting."

"What makes you say that?" I asked him.

"I saw Mom and Dad doing it earlier. It was sick."

Silence. I twiddled my thumbs for a while.

"Wanna try?" he asked sweetly with the cutest face he could muster.

"Sure, why not?"

And he slowly pressed his pale pink lips to my deep scarlet ones.

Yeah... that one was short... sorry...

By the way: these are coming so quickly because I already had a few written. :)

-Paris "Alice" Renee T.


	5. Chapter 4

*Chapter 4*

JasperPOV

I didn't want this moment to end. Just me and Alice, away from the world's troubles, sitting together in our first kiss. She stopped abruptly and pulled away.

"Is that how your momma and daddy did it?" she asked sweetly. She's so childish; that's one of the many reasons why I love her.

"Not exactly," I said, teasing her. I needed more.

"Well, I'll get it right! Just you wait! I'll-"

I kissed her again, this time pulling her face to mine.

"Eager much, Jazz?" she said playfully when she pulled away.

"Yeah."

Some silence.

"Hey, Alice, I was thinking...maybe, someday in the future..."

"What?"

I hesitated.

"When we get older" I knelt down and took the ring off of her index finger "will you marry me?"

"Jasper, I...I do! Jazzy I do!" she squealed.

I slid the ring on her left ring finger.

We looked at each other and knew what we wanted to do.

"Mom!"

"Mrs. Hale!"

"What is it, kids?"

"We're gonna get married when we're older!" we said in unison. Alice pecked my cheek. I blushed a bit.

"Marriage is a big step, kids. Look what happened to Rosie and Emm."

"I'll never do that to Alice!" I yelled at my mom.

"I know you wouldn't, Jazz."

Alice hugged me.

"You two are so cute!" Mom said, flashing her camera at us. Oh no. I forgot that she always has her camera with her. Ugh.

One of the things I knew about Alice was that she loved having her picture taken. She kissed my cheek again, allowing Mom to flash the camera.

"Come on, Alice, let's go back upstairs." Alice jumped up into my arms and let me carry her.

"It's rude to turn your back to the camera, Jazzy," Alice whispered to me as the camera flashed.

"Try to ignore it, Jasper, you'll appreciate it later on," I murmured to myself. Alice giggled.

I set Alice down on the bed by the window so we could watch the police try to take Emmett away. Rosie was on the front porch. She looked up at my open window and spotted us. Alice gave her a wink. Rosie had a greatful expression on her face.

You're welcome, I mouthed.

Too late.

AlicePOV

Emmett escaped the grasp of the officers and started running. I was scared.

"Jazzy," I whispered, holding onto him as tears formed in my eyes.

"It's okay, I won't let him touch you. He won't lay a finger on you."

I curled up next to Jasper, letting the fearful tears flow. What if he found me here? What if he caught me kissing Jasper? Would he hurt me?

Jazz stroked my hair comfortingly.

"I love you, Jazzy," I said as I felt myself nodding off.

"I love you too, Alice."

That's all I heard before I fell asleep.

JasperPOV

"Jazzy...I do...I do...I love you Jazzy..." she murmured in her sleep. I chuckled. She's dreaming of me.

"Wake up, Alice, we've got planning to do," I said, shaking her shoulder. It was six o'clock Saturday morning.

"Fine."

"Good. So, my plan was for me to get a great job like Daddy's so you don't have to work. Sound good, Alice?"

No answer.

"Alice?"

Ugh. She was asleep.

"Alice!" I whisper-yelled, shaking her shoulder.

"Jasper, why do we have to talk about this at six in the morning? I wanted to sleep in today."

Silence. She fell asleep again. I couldn't blame her. I lied down next to her and wrapped my arm around her protectively.

"Emmett won't get you, I promise. You know what? He won't come within five yards of you," I whispered reassuringly to sleeping Alice. She may not hear me, but my words still have meaning.

Right?

AlicePOV

I pretended to sleep. It usually helps me sleep, but here, I had to focus on not crying.

"Emmett won't get you, I promise. You know what? He won't come within five yards of you," he whispered to me. He was so sweet and caring; I just wanted to cry.

I decided to surprise him. "Jazzy," I whispered, rolling in place to face him. He jumped a bit.

"I thought you were aslee-"

"Nope." I smiled. I kissed his cheek. His cheeks pooled with blood. You could practically feel the heat radiated by his cheeks. I giggled.

"Jazz?"

"Yeah?"

"I've always wondered...why do you love me?" I asked intently, tears pooling in my eyes at his silence.

"I...I just...you're..."

"Waiting." Oh no. Tears were spilling over now.

"Don't cry, baby girl," he said, wiping tears away from my face. He had no room to talk. He was crying just as much.

"Don't cry, Jazzy," I said, imitating his movements. He laughed a bit.

"I love you because...gosh, I don't think I can put it in words, Ali...I love you because..."

"Well?"

It all just seemed to rush out then.

"Mary Alice Cullen, I love you because you're the nicest, prettiest girl who ever decided to grace me with their presence. You're nice to me, and don't care how freakish I look or act! I love you with all my heart and nothing you or anyone else says, thinks or does will ever change that!"

I felt my jaw drop. All I could do was hold him and cry.

I kissed him. Again.

And again.

And again.

"Alice, Alice, calm down," he soothed, stroking my hair as he held me close.

"It's okay, you just kinda spilled your heart out right there."

"Take care of it, will ya?" he said jokingly with a wink.

"Oh I will. Don't you worry."

He pecked my lips. My turn to blush.

"You're so cute when you blush like that," he confided, placing his cool hand on my cheek. I could feel the blood cool.

After a few moments of silence, I jumped at the sound of pounding at the door. I gulped.

"Jazz-"

"Shh, it'll be okay."

Just as I suspected.

"Where's Alice?!" Emmett boomed.

"You don't need to know that! She's legally ours now!" Mrs. Hale yelled.

"She's my fucking family, I have all rights to know!" Jasper held me tightly, stroking my back and rocking me back and forth. "You need to be quiet, okay Ali?"

"Okay."

"She's with that little Jasper freak, isn't she?!" I gave Jazz the "I'm scared" look. We blinked back tears of terror and sadness.

We braced ourselves as a loud, thumping sound came up the stairs.

Jazzy, save me, I thought.

Slight cliff hanger there... sorry folks!

-P"A"RT


	6. Chapter 5

*Chapter 5*

JasperPOV

Emmett practically broke down the door to my room.

"Don't you hurt her!" I yelled, taking a protective stance in front of Alice. Mom, call 911, I thought. She probably was right now.

"Jazz! I'll be alright!" Alice screamed at me, unlatching the window. "Alice, don't!"

She did.

She gracefully leaped from the window, landing perfectly on her hands and feet.

"Come on, Jazz! Can't wait forever!" she yelled. I was suddenly entranced by her beauty; her short, black hair blowing in the wind; her promise ring glistening in the dim sunlight; her emerald green eyes reflecting the first rays of daytime.

"Jazz! Watch out!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. Emmett lunged toward me. I leaped out the window, trying to imitate the way Alice did it.

I failed miserably.

I screamed like a little schoolgirl, landing in a bush.

"Come on! We gotta run!" Alice said tearfully as she tugged me away from the bushes. She didn't give me any time to protest. She just grabbed my hand and ran.

"Where are we going?!" I asked breathlessly as we ran farther into the city.

"The bank to get money, then a nice place to hide, plan things out and eat breakfast. St. Louis Bread Co. might work," she explained, waiting impatiently at a crosswalk.

"What money can we get?"

"I have some savings. I used to beg for money outside a Walgreens, saying I couldn't feed myself. I got quite a bit of money there, so I opened a bank account. Enough said. What about you?"

"There's always my college fund, but-"

"Forget school! It's about survival now!" she said sternly. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

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After a good half hour of doing business at a bank, we were sitting in the St. Louis Bread Co, chowing down on a bagel and cream cheese. It was a pretty good deal; about $2 in all.

"After this, we're going to Walgreens to get some extra pocket change, food for today and some blankets. We'll go to the CBC field to further discuss things-"

"Why the CBC field?"

"They have nice bleachers! Duh!" she said. "Well, so with the blankets, we'll sleep in a nook in the bushes not too far away from the football field. We'll use the blankets and each other to keep warm. We'll go to the bleachers tomorrow morning to plan out the day. Understood?"

"Understood," I replied, a small chuckle escaping my lips at how planned out Alice was. We finished our bagel, and Alice was already pulling me towards Walgreens when we put our tray away.

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We were set. We had two bottles of water, a bag of chips, a notebook and pen (Alice found this necessary for some reason), some Starburst, some blankets and a backpack to carry it all in, all for about $20. Alice had managed to collect 85¢.

"Follow me," she said, still sounding as if she was about to cry. You can cry to me, I thought.

We came to a painfully empty parking lot and a deserted football field. Alice was right; it did have nice bleachers. And I saw plenty of junk under them that we could probably use. I could already identify two reusable water bottles and an intact, upright cup of (probably cold) coffee. Alice, you are a genius.

There wasn't much to discuss. Alice had taken the time to write down all of her plans in her notebook. And, conveniently enough, the blankets Alice bought were dark green and brown, so we were less likely to be found.

We just sat on the bleachers, our legs dangling down, staring out at the vast expanse of parking lot. I cautiously reached for Alice's hand. Instead of gently taking it, she just forced me into a kiss, her tears brimming over. Guess she needs it, what with all the stress.

She pulled away. "Sun's goin' down. We might want to set up camp."

She handed me the backpack and led me to the bushes. There was a convenient little nook in the bush; like someone had been there before. She laid the brown blanket on the ground and covered up with the green one, allowing me to join her.

I held weeping Alice, rocking her to sleep, kissing her forehead, crying with her, lost and confused in a cruel world of hate and discomfort.

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Alice was fast asleep, so I decided to get those water bottles from under the bleachers.

I picked them up. They weren't empty. I was about to dump them out, but a distinct smell wafted out of them.

I took a deeper whiff.

The bottles were filled to the rim with red wine.

Should I dump it?

"Ali. Ali," I kept whispering, shaking her shoulder.

"What?"

"Look what I found," I said, holding out the water bottles.

"Great! Those'll be very useful. Wait, what's inside those?"

"When I found them, they were full of red wine. But that's not the point. You want me to dump it or not?"

Silence.

"Just put 'em back, Jazz."

"Okay."

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I went back under the bleachers and scavenged $10.

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Walking across the field, I found a pretty gold necklace someone dropped.

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I found someone's iPod in the bleachers. It still had some battery life and headphones.

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"Jazz! Wake up! The police are looking for us!" Alice yelled in my ear, shaking my shoulder. I had fallen asleep under the bleachers. What a give away!

"Let's go! I've already packed everything up!"

"Good, while we're running, I'll show you what I found last night. It's amazing what people leave here."

AlicePOV

I was on the thin line between sanity and insanity. I was threatening to break down from the stress at any moment. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be safe. I wanted my problems to disappear.

"Jazzy, I'm thinking of" I gulped "going home."

"What? Why? We've made it this far, and I think we're doing great!"

"Jazz, the stress is killing me! I want to go home! Mrs. Hale is worried sick about us, the cops are looking for us, Emmett's trying to hunt me down, and we're runaways! How stressful is that?!"

Jasper was silent.

"I'm going home. Follow me if you want, or stay out in the city. I don't give a crap anymore"

I could practically feel the hurt in Jasper's eyes as I walked home.

I'm sorry, Jazzy, I love you, I thought.

If only he could hear me.

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"I'm home!" I called as I walked through the front door, a tear welling up in my eye as I thought about what to say when they asked where Jasper was.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Mrs. Hale squealed, taking me up into her arms. "Where's Jazz?"

"He's still out there. He was wanting me to stay with him, but I told him it would be smart to come home with me. He didn't." Tears were spilling over now.

"Where were you two?"

"Behind some bushes near the CBC field. I think Jazz might still be there. Please check, I'm worried about him. I need to apologize."

"For?"

"Let's just say I said some hurtful things."

JasperPOV

I love you, Alice, I thought to myself.

I hope she still loves me.


	7. Chapter 6

*Chapter 6*

(2 days later)

AlicePOV

"Jazzy! Jazzy come home!" I yelled tearfully into the football field as I ran. "Jazzy I'm sorry! Come back! I miss you! I need you!" I emphasized my last exclaimation.

He reacted accordingly.

He came out of his (our) hiding spot in the bushes and ran towards me. My tears were flying in the wind; like small raindrops glinting in the sunlight.

"I need you, too!" he cried, snatching me up in his arms. He tried to pull away from my (now strong) hold, but I just kept pulling him back.

"Don't let go! Please! I need you!" Okay, I'll admit it, I was being a bit hysterical. I buried my face into his chest as he rested his chin on my head. He chuckled a bit.

"Shh, shh, Ali, I'm here baby girl."

"I love you, Jazzy."

"I love you, too. With all my heart."

Mrs. Hale came puffing along behind me, flashing her camera as we kissed tearfully. I knotted my fingers in his shaggy blond hair. Mrs. Hale had to pull us apart. I just grabbed Jasper again.

"That's enough, kids."

"Come on, Mom, I can have a life too!" Jasper whined.

"Oh, fine then, you win," Mrs. Hale surrendered jokingly.

We rested our foreheads against each other. We just stood like this and cried tears of joy.

"I love you," we said in unison.

And he once again pressed his pale pink lips to my deep scarlet ones.

Yeah...REALLY short. I know.

-P"A"RT


	8. AN: Sorry, Dear Readers

Sorry guys, but I seriously don't know how to finish this.

I finished a whole freakin' fic and a oneshot during my painful period of writer's block, so you can at least look at those. But I'm truly, seriously sorry. I just can't finish it. Let your imaginations wander and give this story a happy ending. Or a sad one. Your choice. Just do whatever you please. Once again, sorry people. I loved the story as much as you did, don't worry.


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